How much have things changed since Arsenal’s absolutely awful January, when we were knocked out of both cups, didn’t win one game, and only scored one goal in five full matches, and that was in the 2-1 defeat to Man City.
That was a brilliant team performance and it seemed we were in good form, but just a week later we went out of the FA Cup to Nottm Forest. We followed that with an excellent draw at Anfield with ten men in the League Cup but in the second leg at the Emirates we were never in with a shout. The month ended with another limpid performance at home in the 0-0 draw to Burnley.
But then we had the midwinter break, and what a boon it proved to be. We got nearly all our players back from AFCON and injury and then we were back in business and surprised everyone with a 1-0 win away at inform Wolves.
Then came home wins against Brentford, and a last minute comeback against Wolves again, which was definitely worth celebrating and effectively ended their chances in the race for the Top Four.
We all know what happened in our nervy win at Watford but we came away with a 3-2 victory to propel into 4th place with 3 games in hand. Luckily in January we only had two League games (Man City and Watford) and they are the only two games that we have dropped points in our last ten League outings.
So, right now, the form table for the last ten League games looks like this….
It’s nice to see us above Liverpool in something for a change, and to even have a better GD than Man City is quite an acievement. Also the form of Chelsea makes me think there is no reason why we can’t overtake them in the next ten games…
Onwards and Upwards!
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Mikel Arteta’s not as happy as usual after Watford win –
Yes no doubt choosing the last ten games places Arsenal in the top echelon . But equally if we just judge Arsenal on our January results then we would be one of the worst teams in the league. Newcastle 14th being above Chelsea 3rd is a skewed view of the season. If we go back two more games we would have to include Arsenal’s successive away defeats at Everton and Manchester United which would change the stats too. Plus two of Arsenals last ten games should have been Chelsea away and Spurs away. Also knowing the teams played during that period is useful. So full disclosure of Arsenals scheduled last 14 games is Watford Wolves Brentford (Chelsea away postponed) Wolves Burnley (Tottenham Away postponed ) Man City Norwich Leeds Westham Southampton Everton Man Utd. Nonetheless Arsenal’s trajectory is definitely on the up right now.
Fair, fan
Over our last 49 league games we’re 3rd, 6pts off Liverpool and with 2 games in hand. Win those two in hand, Arteta will have the same amount of points as Klopp, and one more win over a 51 games period.
Considering Klopp’s team is complete, and has way more quality, I’d say Arteta is doing a bang up job. Win our games in hand, and only Man C are outperforming us over the last season and a third.
We still have a very tough end to the season, so I am not getting ahead of myself, but we have a great chance of CL football next season. If Spurs and Utd draw in their next game, that would be perfect! At worse, a Utd win I’d take.
That statistic means nothing, considering the tough games are yet to come (liverpool, united, chelsea, spurs, west ham). A lot of things can happen. Arsenal may well drag all the way down from top 4 favorites to struggling finishing top 6, its possible. It was great that we managed to take all point in february but i won’t get too excited so soon.
Just when during december most of us had imagine we will continue our good performance and winstreak in january and then what happen was winless streak in the whole month.
Considering we only won by one goal margin this february,..not very optimistic.
In January we had injuries, covid and players in the Africa Cup of Nations.
We are lacking squad depth and all these incidents made it complicated for us. Key factors when judging our results in January.
For me it will be a bonus if we manage top four this season, more likely top six.
My prediction, based on the teams’ current performances:
Arsenal 1 – 2 Liverpool
Arsenal 2 – 1 Man United
West Ham 1 – 1 Arsenal
Chelsea 2 – 1 Arsenal
Spuds 2 – 1 Arsenal
Can’t agree more GAI. 4 points out of 15. We should have fair chance to beat spurs and west ham but let’s just assume something not goes as planned like injuries or red card
Considering our form is better than West Ham,Spurs and Man Utd, I see us winning all three,Chelsea and Liverpool will be difficult, your predictions are way off
You know you don’t really have to be always negative to prove you are practical and have more knowledge aboutthe game. It is too annoying
Southampton is a surprise being so high up.
Not surprised we are at the top we have been really good in the EPL.
One of the reasons being probably because we’re out of other competitions and only play once a week for now. The next couple of weeks will tell whether we’re contenders or pretenders. Hopefully we do well.
Arsenal and Manchester city are joint top teams in Europe judging from last 10 games followed by Barcelona etc but that’s only in the league competitions but I believe that Last 10 matches across all competition will be far more better
No No No! During that ten game League run, we lost to Nottm Forest in the FA Cup, and 0-0 and 0-2 to Liverpool in the League Cup!
Certainly reason for optimism but also a cautionary tale about how quickly things can change.
I read somewhere that we have the second hardest schedule in the run-in so expecting some bumps in the road. Strap in and enjoy.
We will definitely lose points, but so will our rivals. We just need to keep on fighting every match.
Form is on our side.
Fixture fatigue is on our side.
Luck (lack of injuries) is on our side.
Top 4 is ours to lose!
Chelsea & Liverpool games I am not expecting anything other than a possible point just don’t lose. We can beat Tottenham, Utd & West Ham but again just dont lose and fight.
The rest around us will be dropping points as we definitely will also but the so called lesser teams we play in between are must wins. Starting with Leicester this weekend as Spurs v Utd is on too.
This is going to be a very frustrating and hard run to the Top4 but we keep plugging away game by game & see where it takes us. Its nice to be in the conversation and as maybe slight favourites for the Top4 but we will see.
Can’t beleive we are afraid of chelsea too,first leg trauma.
For all I care, anyone can choose to believe which spot we finish come end of season. Why not recognize the achievements the team have so far recorded compared to what we all know our Arsenal to be. Some fans would rather wait until Srteta beats Liverpool and city back to back before they can give him their full support and if eventually we did beat them, they’d still say Srteta must win Champions league.
Srteta is simply a carbon copy of Pep and with another season in charge, y’all would see how lucky we are to have him as our head coach. I come in peace.
suffering succotash BD
Sylvester the Cat’s gag
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride and it’s time that Arsenal and Arteta haters swallow their foolish pride and accept the things that they cannot change. The fact is Arsenal is definitely improving under Arteta and based on current performances in league games across Europe (last ten), Arsenal is in top form resulting in top four spot with three matches in hand over Manchester United. It is what it is, but Arsenal must keep up this fight to the end of the season. Amongst the teams fighting for that fourth spot, Arsenal has been the most consistent defensively (5th)and offensively too, with 8w, 1d,1L ,in the last ten games played. All games at this stage of the league is going to be tough for every team (not just Arsenal),as relegation zone teams are fighting to stay up, while top ten teams are fighting for European spots. No time for complacency, as the situation now demands just consistency, belief and fight to the end. My biggest fear however, is not injuries or performances, but refereeing decisions that will go against Arsenal.
Well said wayneO